McClure Foundation awards $450,000 in support of access to postsecondary education in Vermont

The J Warren & Lois McClure Foundation has announced over $450,000 in support of programs to further the Foundation’s mission of improving access to college and career education for all Vermonters.The bulk of the grants will serve ongoing programs and new initiatives at the Community College of Vermont (CCV), which enrolled over 6,100 Vermonters last fall.
The McClure Foundation, a supporting organization of the Vermont Community Foundation, is one of several philanthropic entities offering continuing support for the Introduction to College Studies program offered at CCV’s twelve Vermont locations. The course assists high school juniors and seniors in developing their study skills and exposing them to college expectations. Upon successfully completing the course, high school students receive a voucher for one free college course at CCV; the University of Vermont; Vermont Tech; or Castleton, Lyndon, or Johnson State College.
‘It’s a privilege to build upon ongoing programs such as Introduction to College Studies that are serving students statewide,’noted Barbara Benedict, the Foundation’s Vice President. ‘In addition, we collaborate with public stakeholders and practitioners in the field and with other generous, innovative funders to develop timely new initiatives to improve outcomes for Vermonters.’ The Foundation hosts a ‘Pathways to Promising Careers’resource on its website,www.mcclurevt.org.
With help from co-funders, the Foundation continues to sponsor a full-time veterans’resource coordinator at CCV to assist military families in matching the funding available to them with the educational opportunities available within Vermont.
The Foundation will also continue its support of the development and distribution of CCV’s newCollege and Career Guide, mailed in May to over 20% of Vermont households. Other grants in support of college and career education were made to the Single Parents’Program at Champlain College in Burlington, to the Tutorial Center in Bennington, and in support of scholarships for American Red Cross babysitter training courses throughout Vermont.
The McClure Foundation is in its second year of funding for the Academy 21program in the Franklin County Supervisory District. The success of this effort to integrate high school, college, and hands-on learning at the local level could serve as a model for reform in other districts. This program has been co-funded by the State of Vermont and was recently awarded a Next Generation grant from the Gates Foundation.
The continuing goal of the Foundation has been to encourage coordination among educational and philanthropic leaders within the state to promote systemic change. The Foundation this year continues its grants in support of Vermont’s PreK-16 Council and of education sector reporting by the Vermont Journalism Trust’s VTDigger.org statewide news source. This October the McClure Foundation will co-sponsor with the Vermont Community Foundation its fourth annual forum on education.
‘The incredible care and thought with which the McClure Foundation supports career-building and postsecondary education initiatives in Vermont rings true with the spirit of giving practiced by the McClure family,’says Stuart Comstock-Gay, president & CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation. ‘By funding these programs, the beliefs of the late J. Warren McClure live on. As Mr. McClure said: ‘We have received, we have given; and it is only in giving that we have influence beyond the span of our own lives.’‘
Source: VCF. August 2, 2012. The Vermont Community Foundation is a family of hundreds of funds and foundations established by Vermonters to serve their charitable goals. It provides the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise to make giving easy and inspiring. The Foundation also provides leadership in giving by responding to community needs and keeping Vermont’s nonprofit sector vital. Together, its funds and programs provide more than $12 million a year in grants and other investments in Vermont. Visitwww.vermontcf.orgor call802-388-3355for more information.